Movable gate carrying rotary knives for cutting cloth on a winding machine



Nov. 15. 1 w. J. CLARK MOVABLE GATE CARRYING R0 ET AL 2,723,717 TARYKNIVES FOR CUTTING CLOTH ON A WINDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May7. 1955 Nov. 15, 1955 Filed May '7. 1953 W. J. CLARK ET AL MOVABLE GATECARRYING ROTARY KNIVES FOR CUTTING CLOTH ON A WINDING MACHINE 4Sheets-Sheet 2 M/VzF/VTOPS. W141 715? E. AULE/V By W/ll/AM J (ZAPA Nov.15, 1955 w. J. CLARK ETAL 2,723,717

MOVABLE GATE CARRYING ROTARY KNIVES FOR CUTTING CLOTH ON A WINDINGMACHINE Filed May 7. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 a? 2 6i a? v a [a I? g;

8y WILLIAM J. (LA/PK TTOR/YEYI.

NOV. 15, 1955 w CLARK r 2,723,717

MOVABLE GATE CARRYING ROTARY KNIVES FOR CUTTING CLOTH O A WINDINGMACHINE Filed May 1. 1955 4 Shee'ts-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY-II United StatesPatent MOVABLE GATE CARRYING ROTARY KNIVES FOR CUTTING CLOTH ON AWINDING MA- CHINE William J. Clark, Jenkintown, Pa., and Walter E. Aulen, Woodstown, N. J., assignors to Eddystone Machinery Company,Chester, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 7, 1953,Serial No. 353,473

2 Claims. (Cl. 164-61) The present invention relates to winding machinesand cutters therefor.

A purpose of the invention is to obtain a smoother and straighter cut ona winding machine and to reduce the amount of cloth darnage by the cut.

A further purpose is to permit reliable cutting of heavier, tougher andmore resistant cloths.

A further purpose is to permit cutting of cloth on a winding machine atlower speeds, at erratic speeds or during temporary stoppage of themachine, without damage to the cloth or to the machine and withoutinterrupting the winding operation.

A further purpose is to permit cutting before a large roll has beenwound.

A further purpose is to cut more rapidly and obtain less overlap of theadvancing cut end on a new shell during cutting, and to obtain a tighterwind of the first few turns of the cloth on the new shell.

A further purpose is to avoid a tendency to feed the cloth to one sideof the machine during cutting.

A further purpose is to make the rotary cutter selfsharpening and toremove any burrs which may form.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings we have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerousembodiments in which our invention may appear, with a minor variation,the forms shown being selected from the standpoints of convenience inillustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of theprinciples involved.

Figure 1 is a front view, partly broken away, showing the gate of thewinding machine in acordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary partially diagrammatic end elevation of awinding machine to which the invention has been applied.

Figure 2a is a fragmentary diagrammatic end elevation, showing thecutting of the cloth in accordance with the invention.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section of Figure 1 on the line 3-3.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section of Figure 1 on the line 4-4.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section of Figure 3 on the line 5-5.

Figure 6 isa front elevation of a modified form of rotary cutter.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional plan showing the gate.

Describing in illustration but not in limitation and referring to thedrawings:

Winding machines of the Simpsontype (Simpson U. S. Patent No. 542,034,dated July 2, 1895, for Cloth Winding Machine) are extensively used forwinding cloth. In such machines two spaced parallel drums turn in thesame direction, and shells placed on their upper surfaces and pivotallymounted at the ends turn with the drums. The end of the cloth is firstwound around a shell turning with ice the rear drum, and after asubstantial roll has formed on the rear drum the roll is transferred tothe front drum so that the cloth is carried across between the drums.When the roll has been wound to the desired size and a new shell isplaced on the cloth above the rear drum, a cutter carried by a gate israised between the drums, cutting the cloth and letting the newly formedcut end be wound around the new shell to start a new roll.

In the prior art a cutter has been used having cutting teeth extendingout diagonally from the gate in the direction from which the cloth iscoming, and having diverging cutting edges at the side of the teethextending generally in the direction of the motion of the cloth. Exceptthat the cutter moves up and down with the gate, it is stationary andrelies upon the motion of the cloth to provide the force necessary tocut. The serrated blade of this character is generally known as a doflincutter.

The prior art dofiin cutters when used on winding machines of thecharacter under discussion have caused difficulty in certain types ofservice. When the speed of progression of the cloth has been reduced toa very low value or has been erratic, in some cases the doffin cutterhas hooked into the cloth without cutting it, either stopping forwardmotion of the cloth or breaking some part of the machine.

In recentyears certain cloths have been used which are difficult orimpossible to cut by a dofiin cutter. One example of such material isheavy plastic sheets. Another example is leno cloth made out of cotton,hemp or paper, and commonly used for bags to hold fruit or canned goods,the cloth sometimes having a draw string woven longitudinally in thefabric. Another example is doubledouble cloth which consists of fourplies of sheeting. Other examples are very heavy ducks, canvases andpaulins.

Another diificulty encountered with the doflin cutter is that the pullfrom the cutter is so great that it is necessary to have a substantialnumber of turns wound around the shell before cutting a roll, asotherwise the cutter may just cause the cloth to rotate with respect tothe shell on which it is wound.

In some cloths of high value the loss of material due to the zigzag cutproduced by the dofiin cutter and the unattractive appearance of thezigzag out have been objectionable.

In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to cut clothsregardless of the speed of progression even though the speed is erraticor the cloth has temporarily stopped advancing.

The cutter of the present invention also is desirable for cutting veryheavy cloths such as leno cloth, doubledouble cloth, heavy plastics, andheavy weight ducks, canvases and paulins.

There is no tendency to stop the forward progression, or break themachine, and the invention is applicable at any stage of winding of theroll, so that it is not necessary to wind an unnecessarily large roll inorderto cut.

The time of cutting is reduced, so that the amount of cloth wound on thenew shell during the cutting is reduced, and there will be no tendencyto form several turns of loosely .wound cloth on the new shell, as wasthe practice in the prior art.

. to cutting. heavy materials in which the drying time is long and thespeed of progression from the dryer to the winder is slow, but it isalso useful for cutting ordinary or light cloth.

In accordance. with the invention rotary cutters are mounted on thetopof the gate and they overlap so that the cutter length extendscontinuous across the machine. The adjoining cutters are desirablystaggered, and preferably have flat faces in juxtaposition so that thecutters are self-sharpening and self-deburring.

The machine as shown in Figure 2 and as illustrated more fully in theSimpson patent above referred to, and in Husson U. S. Patent No.2,537,588, granted January 9, 1951, for Web Winder, comprises a framehaving sets of bearings 21 at the opposite ends which rotatably mount aforward drum 22 and a rearward drum 23 on spaced parallel axes. The twodrums have their axes transverse to the direction 24 of progression ofthe cloth to be wound and the axes are suitably horizontal and at thesame level as well known.

The machine as in usual practice has sprockets 25 on the respectivedrums which are interconnected by a chain 26 which assures that the twodrums turn in the same direction and at the same speed. One of the drumsis driven in any suitable manner.

Above the drums at the two sides of the machine are uprights 27 as wellknown, which support pivot jaws which pivotally mount the opposite endsof a rear or new shell 28 which turns on top the cloth with the surfaceof the rear drum. The new shell as it winds rises in the pivot jaws, andthe pressure of the pivot jaws on the new shell is controlled by brakemechanism 30, which forms no part of the present invention.

tter the roll has been wound to the desired size on the rear drum, it istransferred to the front drum, the

pivots of the shell being supported in pivot jaws 31 of jaw arms 32pivoted at 33, and manipulated by hydraulic cylinders 34 to open thejaws 31 and apply pressure to the jaw arms if desired.

A track 35 is provided at each side of the machine to introduce the newshell and a track 36 is provided at each side of the machine to transferthe pivots of the roll wound on the rear drum to the front drum.

When the roll on the rear drum has been wound to the desired size, it istransferred to the front drum and becomes a front roll 37 as shown inFigure 2a. When the roll has been wound to the desired size, the cloth38 is cut transversely of the direction 24 of motion and between the twodrums. This is done by raising gate 40 which is placed between the drumsand normally lies below the cloth. The gate as well known in the art hasa gate frame 41 which carries at the two sides vertical guiding members42 which ride in a vertical track 42 at the two sides of the machine.The frame also has an upper transversely extending head 43 and diagonalbraces 44.

Rams 45 operated by fluid cylinders 46 connect to the gate head at thetwo sides of the machine and are suitably controlled by a valve 47. Thecylinders are double acting so that the gate can be raised at apredetermined time and lowered at a predetermined time. Ordinarily inthe present invention the gate remains raised only for a few seconds.

The gate head 43 desirably comprises an angle 48 extending transverselyof the gate, and secured at the top to an angle 50 also runningtransversely, the angle 50 being connected at the top and the bottom toa housing 51 which forms a transversely extending gear box 52.

Also running transversely of the machine in parallel spaced relation tothe angle 50 is an angle 53.

The angle 53 on one side and the angles 40 and 50 on the other sidecarry aligned bearings 54 and 55 which journal stub shafts 56 in a setextending horizontally side by side in a row with the axes of the shaftsextending in the direction of cloth motion. The stub shafts haveshoulders 57 at their rear ends, and at each alternate position shown atthe top in Figure 3 they carry hubs 58 which mount rotary cutters 60connected to the shafts by keys 61. At this position the cutter is heldby a bushing 62 which is internally threaded to engage a threaded end 63on the shaft, carries a flange 64 which engages a spacer washer 65, andis externally threaded at the end remote from the cutter to receive agear 66.

At the alternate positions as shown in Figure 4 the stub shafts havespacer shanks 67 in line with the cutters 60 and then hubs 68 whichreceive opposite counterpart cutters 7i in staggered relation to thecutters 60, and held by keys 71. A bushing 72 is flanged at 73 to engagethe outside of spacer washer 65, is internally threaded on the portion63 of the stub shaft and is externally threaded at to engage gear 66which cooperates with the adjoining gear 66 of Figure 3.

Each cutter 60 or has a flat surface 74 which is in juxtaposition to andactually in wiping engagement with a fiat surface 74 on the oppositecounterpart rotary cutter and also has a'convex or wedge outer surface75 remote from the opposite counterpart cutter.

As seen in Figures 1 and 5 the respective cutters 70 and 60 overlap toan extent that their cutting edges form a continuous exposed cuttingsurface across the width of the cloth.

As the gears turn the opposite counterpart cutters in oppositedirections, it will be evident that any tendency of one cutter to pushthe cloth laterally in one direction is compensated by the tendency ofthe next cutter to push the cloth laterally in the opposite directionand the cutters in cutting pull against one another in the cloth. Thusthe cutting is very rapid. Furthermore the effective cutting edges arevery narrow and a substantially straight transverse cut is obtainedinstead of a zigzag.

The line of gears 66 as shown in Figure 5 is driven suitably at thecenter by a chain 76 (Figure l) which drives a suitable sprocket 77which in turn drives a sprocket 78 on the same shaft 80 mounted inbearings 81, stationarily positioned at the bottom of the machine.Pivoted on the shaft 80 free from the sprocket 7 8 is a lever 82 whichjournals at its opposite end a shaft 83 which has sprockets 84 and 85mounted thereon. Sprocket 84 is driven by chain 86 on sprocket '78. Alsopivoted on shaft 83 but free from sprockets 84 and 85 are levers 87, theother ends of which swing on shaft 83 mounted on vertical frame member90. Sprocket 85 which turns with sprocket 84 on shaft 83 intermesheswith chain 91 which meshes with sprocket 92 on shaft 88. Also carried onshaft 88 and turning with sprocket 92 is sprocket 93. which cooperateswith chain 94 which drives sprocket 95 on shaft 96 journaling in theframe member 90. Also supported on shaft 96 and turning with sprocket 95is gear 97 which is intergeared with gear 98 on shaft 100 journaling inframe member 90, and intergeared with one of the gears 66. The gear case52 is cut out at 99 to allow the gear 109 to enter.

As well known in the art, the gate carries on the side from which thecloth comes suitable tucking fingers 101 mounted on a transverse shaft162 journalled in bearings 103, on the gate angle 48 urged away from thecutters by tortion springs 164 and held close to the cutters by a bar105 when the gate is down. The tucking fingers engage the newly cutforward end of the cloth and tend to deflect it around the new shell 28,this function also being aided by threading belts 186 supported onsuitable rollers 107 from a frame 108 as shown in Figure 2, and formingno part of the present invention.

Gussets 109 at the ends brace the gate frame.

In operation the gate remains down until the wound roll is placed on theforward drum and the time has come to. cut the cloth. The gate is thenraised by the fluid cylinders 46, and the cutters respectively rotate inopposite directions. seizing and cutting the cloth. The newly cut endis, carried by the. tucking fingers around the newshell and starts. thenew roll while the, trailing end wraps around the old roll. The gate canthen be retracted allowing normal winding to proceed.

While it is not essential to use any particular type of circular cutter,it is desired to have cutters which have fluted blades at 110 on theconvex side, and form protruding cutting teeth 111, the flat sides beingentirely smooth and rubbing against one another, thus keeping thecutters sharp and removing burrs.

Cutters can be of any suitable material, preferably high speed steel, orcemented carbide.

It will be evident that in the present invention, unlike the dofiincutter, the cutter is preferably carried straight up, rather than beinginclined in the direction from which the cloth is coming.

In view of our invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of ourinvention without copying the structure shown, and we therefore claimall such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope ofour claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cloth winding machine comprising spaced parallel rotatable drums,in combination with a gate mounted between the drums and verticallymovable from a position below the upper level of the drums to a positionabove the upper level of the drums, rotary knives extending along thetop of the gate, each knife having a flat side and a convex side andhaving teeth at the periphery, the knives being arranged in two rowsstaggered and overlapping with the flat sides of adjoining knives injuxtaposition to one another, means for raising and lowering the gate, aline of gears each interconnected operatively with one of the knives andeach gear being intergeared with the adjoining gear to drive adjoininggears in opposite directions, sprocket means stationarily mounted belowthe gate, sprocket means mounted on the gate, gearing interconnectingthe sprocket means on the gate with the gears driving the individualcutters, lever means pivotally mounted on the gate, on the same axis asthe sprocket means mounted on the gate, lever means pivotally mounted onthe same axis as the stationarily mounted sprocket means and pivotallyconnected to the lever means first mentioned, sprocket means mounted onsaid lever means on the axis of pivotal interconnection, chain meansinterconnecting the sprocket means on the gate with the sprocket meanson the lever means and chain means interconnecting the fixedly mountedsprocket with the sprocket means on the lever means.

2. A cloth winding machine according to claim 1, comprising spindlesoperatively mounted along the gate, each receiving and mounting one ofthe gears which intergear the knives and one of the knives, and means onthe spindle for selectively receiving a knife in each of two alternatepositions, in which the flat side of the knife faces in either of twoopposite directions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS611,599 Beaty et a1. Oct. 4, 1898 1,652,093 Coombes Dec. 6, 19272,537,588 Husson Jan. 9, 1951

